AFL renews call for public inquiry into contaminated meat

Thursday, 18 October 2012

New ownership not enough to restore confidence in 'Alberta's brand'

Brooks, AB – The Alberta Federation of Labour and United Food and Commercial Workers are calling on Premier Alison Redford to stand up for a key Alberta industry by conducting an independent public inquiry.

In a public letter sent to the Premier on Thursday, October 18, AFL president Gil McGowan and UFCW Local 401 president Doug O'Halloran explained the reasons a public inquiry into the causes of the E.Coli outbreak at the Lakeside plant in Brooks would be in the best interest of consumers, the cattle industry and of Albertans.

"Only a public inquiry can ask the right questions," McGowan and O'Halloran said. "Are meat processing facilities being allowed to police themselves? Are federal cuts and changes to CFIA mandates leading to food safety crises? Is there adequate training and whistle-blower protection for workers?"

In the letter, the union says an independent inquiry needs to investigate the level of authority, autonomy and mandate of Canadian Food Inspection Agency employees, as well as examining line speeds, update reporting policies and implement effective food safety precautions.

The cattle industry employs more than 20,000 Albertans and accounts for more than $11.6 billion of the provincial economy. McGowan notes that recent change in management at the Lakeside plant does not resolve the ongoing problems in the cattle industry.

"The results of Canada's system of self-regulation have already been criticized by American inspectors," McGowan and O'Halloran said. "Over the last decade, several USDA inspections have flagged problems with beef processing plants in Alberta."

The meat packing industry in Canada has been dominated by large, multinational players for some time; the entrance of Brazilian-owned JBS USA solidifies that trend. Given their market dominance, these companies are often considered "too big to fail."

"Workers, government and business leaders share an ethical responsibility to ensure the safety of Canadian consumers," McGowan and O'Halloran said. "The independence and thoroughness of such an inquiry would be valuable in restoring public confidence in the safety and cleanliness of Canadian beef, both at home and abroad."

More is needed than a mere public inquiry: there is a need for a labour initiated grand strategy in Canada to get worker ownership of these food processing facilities. Particularly in cases where management has chosen to make barely tolerable jobs virtually intolerable by increasing conveyor belt speeds to the point where safe handling is defeated.

Worker and union control of these facilities would put one person one vote democracy in the driver's seat in running such facilities. There are very good examples of worker owned food plant and distribution enterprises. Albertson's in Washington state is one such example that has a reputation for putting the quality of the product ahead of arbitrary profit objectives.

I would like to find out if the AFL has any kind of task force looking at this goal. As a member of the Steelworkers union local #1967 - a national local - I would love to see serious discussion on producer co-ops being set up to replace managements that are too tired to carry on (such as what was announced yesterday about Christie's plant in Ontario) - and the social economy goals that Steelworkers and Mondragon entered into an agreement on a couple of years ago. This worker/equity program has began in Pittsburgh - and I hope that we will be able to generate some discussion on how this can take root in Canada.

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By Stan Squires |
October 26, 2012

I am from vancouver and i agrees with the UFCW that a public inquiry is necessary to make sure XL Foods changes the way that it is operating this plant.On its own the management of this plant will not change anything.It is the workers there that will make the necessary changes.

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By mamunsultanpur3@gmail.com |
October 25, 2012

Demand for turnkey rental the past few years has increased — a function of foreclosures and fewer existing rental properties making the decision to buy